Innovation News

Washington D.C. - SETDA, the principal membership association of the U.S. state and territorial educational technology leaders announced today David C. Hespe, New Jersey Commissioner of Education and Evo Popoff, Chief Innovation Officer/Assistant Commissioner at the State of New Jersey Department of Education as co-recipients of the SETDA State Policy Maker of the Year Award given the 2015 Leadership Summit: Learning in the Digital Age.

Hespe and Popoff were honored for their vision and leadership in support for the effective use of technology in New Jersey. Under their leadership, the New Jersey Department of Education has assisted 145 school districts, charter schools and private schools form a consortium to cooperatively purchase Internet services. It is anticipated that this technology initiative will generate savings of $89 million for participating schools over the next three and a half years. Another initiative that will have a major positive impact on schools is the New Jersey Digital Readiness for Learning and Assessment Project (DRLAP). This project includes a free tool that districts will be able to use to track their readiness to implement digital learning. They will be able to evaluate progress over time, and future upgrades to the system will include automated recommendations for and access to research-based strategies to address identified learning gaps.

"One of the incredible attributes of technology use is its ability to assist student learning through access to resources. When broadband access is available for considerable savings, localities can use those savings to provide innovative instructional delivery training or buy more resources," said Lan Neugent, Interim Executive Director, SETDA.

"The leadership provided by Commissioner Hespe and Mr. Popoff has resulted in a great tool to help determine technology readiness for schools in New Jersey," commented Todd Lawrence, Educational Technology Coordinator, Idaho State Department of Education and SETDA board member. "All states will benefit from a tool just like this for their localities and I commend New Jersey for their foresight."​About SETDAFounded in 2001, the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is the principal non-profit membership association representing U.S. state and territorial educational technology leaders. Our mission is to build and increase the capacity of state and national leaders to improve education through technology policy and practice. For more information, please visit http://www.setda.org